There is no such thing as Italian food

I only eat America Food. Everybody knows what that is.

Just add "ish" to the end of all the cultural food categories so we don't offend anybody or get their panties in a wad.

I have eaten my way across Italy and eaten in plenty of great Italian restaurants. We used to visit a neighborhood in Connecticut we called Spaghetti Mountain. Black Cadillacs lined up in front of brick row houses. Those people could party. I married into an Irish family and they loved the Italians.

toedtoes wrote:

magnusfide wrote:
Thank yous to Toedtoes and Punomatic who actually read the article instead of snarking sight unseen. I like the fact that the article tried to educate people on the variety of cuisine found in the nation of Italy. It's informative for those who actually read it.

Italy does have great food but it's a lot more than red sauce, meat sauce and pasta. I've had some outstanding antipasto in little cafes that make their own cured meats. I've also had some fantastic cod dishes in the northern part of Italy.

People tend to try to compartmentalize cuisine and in doing so shrink the variation down to a standard menu size of dishes. Reality is so far from that. People (and food) tend to cross borders and meld together and that creates many variations.

Italian isn't just marinara sauce, Chinese isn't just chow mein, Greek isn't just lamb, etc. They offer so much more if you're willing to open your eyes.

Exactly.

magnusfide wrote:
Thank yous to Toedtoes and Punomatic who actually read the article instead of snarking sight unseen. I like the fact that the article tried to educate people on the variety of cuisine found in the nation of Italy. It's informative for those who actually read it.

Italy does have great food but it's a lot more than red sauce, meat sauce and pasta. I've had some outstanding antipasto in little cafes that make their own cured meats. I've also had some fantastic cod dishes in the northern part of Italy.

People tend to try to compartmentalize cuisine and in doing so shrink the variation down to a standard menu size of dishes. Reality is so far from that. People (and food) tend to cross borders and meld together and that creates many variations.

Italian isn't just marinara sauce, Chinese isn't just chow mein, Greek isn't just lamb, etc. They offer so much more if you're willing to open your eyes.

Don't try to tell anyone from Italy that nonsense.

Thank yous to Toedtoes and Punomatic who actually read the article instead of snarking sight unseen. I like the fact that the article tried to educate people on the variety of cuisine found in the nation of Italy. It's informative for those who actually read it.

Italy does have great food but it's a lot more than red sauce, meat sauce and pasta. I've had some outstanding antipasto in little cafes that make their own cured meats. I've also had some fantastic cod dishes in the northern part of Italy.

When I was stationed in the UK in 67-68-69, we used to go to Italy for a month at a time. I used to get a 8 inch pizza, bottle of vino, and a heaping plate of spagetti and meatballs for $1.00. Never had a bad meal. Great food

toedtoes wrote:
What they are really saying is that what the average non-traveler thinks makes up "Italian cuisine" is nothing like the real thing.

Same thing with most other ethnic cuisines. The average Chinese restaurant is no where near to the real thing. The average Mexican restaurant is no where near to the real thing. Not only are there many variations on a dish, but there are a multitude of dishes not see in the average restaurant outside of that country.

Bingo

magnusfide wrote:
Italian food doesn't really exist at least not as a unified category..

OK. What is American food? Does it really exist? Or is it just a bunch of borrowed ideas?